Between 1996 to 2001, hoards of archaeological artifacts were looted in
Transylvania and illicitly trafficked. The looters focused on a region
centered in the Carpathian Mountains which served 2,000 years ago as the
fortified spiritual-capital of the ancient Dacian tribal kingdom. Most
valued and rare were massive golden spiral bracelets, twenty-four in
all, heretofore-unknown to the archaeological world. Many sold in six
figures sums to European and American collectors. The Gold Spirals saga
highlights the dedication of a few individuals antiquarians and police
officials in Romania Europe and the North America. Over more than a
decade, they remained dogged and passionate in bringing the guilty to
justice and in seeking to recover treasures central to Romanian cultural
identity.